Forest / Wild Fire – State of Nevada, [Mount Charleston, near to Pahrump]

Earth Watch Report – Forest / Wild Fire

SONNY CLARY/SPECIAL TO THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

The Carpenter Canyon fire forced the mandatory evacuation of Trout Canyon, a small community of about 21 homes. The fire has now come across the ridge from the west side of the Spring Mountains, forcing the evacuation of Kyle Canyon. Officials say Mount Charleston “is closed.”

It is day four of the Carpenter One wildfire on the back side of Mount Charleston near Pahrump and there is still no containment. A mandatory evacuation order for the Trout Canyon area was issued on Thursday afternoon. According to the Bureau of Land Management, 21 homes are affected. It is not known though if all of those homes are currently occupied. The latest estimate on the size of the wildfire is 1,250 acres. At one point, the BLM estimated the size at almost 2,000 acres but lowered that number later. The reason for the mandatory evacuation because changing weather patterns increased the likelihood of the fire moving towards the homes. A shelter is being opened at the Hafen Elementary School in Pahrump and the American Red Cross will be providing assistance.

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Mount Charleston ‘closed’ as growing wildfire threatens homes

JOHN MOWBRAY/SPECIAL TO THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

The Carpenter Canyon fire forced the mandatory evacuation of Trout Canyon, a small community of about 21 homes. The fire has now come across the ridge from the west side of the Spring Mountains, forcing the evacuation of Kyle Canyon. Officials say Mount Charleston “is closed.”

JOHN LOCHER/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Las Vegas police block the road to Kyle Canyon on Mount Charleston outside of Las Vegas on Thursday. A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for the canyon.

HENRY BREAN/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Outside of Bilbray Elementary School, where a Red Cross shelter was set up for evacuees, smoke formed an ominous reminder of the advancing fire at Mount Charleston. A mandatory evacuation of Kyle Canyon sent residents and holiday picnickers off the mountain. Some ended up at the school near Fort Apache Road and U.S. 95.

JOHN LOCHER/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Chelsea Catignani cries as she waits to get to her home up Kyle Canyon road on Mount Charleston outside of Las Vegas Thursday. The road up to Kyle Canyon had been closed because of fire danger and Catiganani wasn’t able to get to her pets. Smoke from the fire can be seen in the mountains behind her.

Fanned by increasing winds, a burgeoning wildfire began descending the east side of Mount Charleston on Thursday, prompting mandatory evacuations and sending cars full of residents and their possessions down the mountain.

The building winds made it difficult to fight the blaze encroaching Kyle Canyon, Las Vegas police spokesman Bill Cassell said. At 9:45 p.m., the fire was climbing the west side of Cathedral Rock.

The wildfire kindled by lightning Monday morning in Carpenter Canyon, on the west side of the Spring Mountains, has grown beyond the 1,250 acres reported before 1 p.m. Thursday and has crested the peak of Mount Charleston, officials said.

Multiple sources told the Review-Journal that the fire was descending the ridge between Griffith and Mount Charleston peaks. The Bureau of Land Management said late Thursday no reports of structure damage had been made. Officials did not update information about the size of the fire or exact location throughout the night.

Trout Canyon, near the original source of the fire, also was evacuated, and a shelter was set up in Pahrump for the residents of the 21 houses there.

“They told me to get off the mountain,” Rose Meranto, a resident of Old Town in Kyle Canyon said. “They just said don’t waste time and go. So I got my kitty cats and my son’s cats and I moved.”

About 500 people were affected by Thursday’s escalating rounds of evacuations. At 11 p.m., Cassell said officers were returning to the homes of those who were reluctant to leave and requiring them to do so as a matter of public safety.

“Mount Charleston is closed,” Cassell said.

It’s not known when evacuees will be allowed to return to their homes. It’s common in a blaze like this for evacuations to last seven to 14 days, Cassell said fire officials told him.

State routes 156 and 157 at U.S. Highway 95 leading to Mount Charleston have been closed, along with Trout Canyon Road at state Route 160.

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